


Radioactive In The Dark

by kat_alyst



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - No Ghouls, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Attempt at Humor, Cat/Human Hybrids, F/F, F/M, Fire Powers, M/M, Nagachika Hideyoshi Is a Dork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-14 08:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5736979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kat_alyst/pseuds/kat_alyst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide is your everyday, average, good human.</p><p>Well... he does kind of have an ability to create fire from his own hands, and he does have to hide it from all normal humans to stay alive. </p><p>But he's doing quite well at that...</p><p>Well that's until Rize comes along and things become (a tiny weenie bit) more difficult.</p><p>( A Superhero-y Hide AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what this is OK. 
> 
> I just was inspired by the song Radioactive In The Dark (hence the title) and I thought it was really cool. (Like, my two favourite songs mashed together. WOW!) 
> 
> I really wanted a superhero kind of thing going on with Hide. Bear with me.
> 
> THANK YOU TO ISHIDA SUI FOR CREATING THE WONDERFUL MANGA OF TOKYO GHOUL. (And making me cry every time I read a new chapter)

**_Light 'em up, up, up       I'm radioactive, radioactive  
I'm on fire_ **

****

****

**__ **

**_ Chapter I: Boom _ **

****

****

****

****

**_“AHAHA! I’m going to savour every bit of you.”_ **

 

 

If you think they meant this in a nice way, you’re wrong.

 

As Hide was once again thrown into the damp, _hard_ , and cold wall of the dark abandoned alleyway he was misfortunately in, and he decided that staying on the defence wasn't going to work in this situation...

 

...where he was being attacked by Satan’s wife.

 

 

 

 

**_. O. _ **

 

 

 

 

 

He didn't really know how he got himself into this in the first place. He had only been walking home from the grocery store, which he only went to because he was out of midnight snacks (He only realised it was a bad idea to go out at one A.M.  _after_ he had already got to the shop), when suddenly on his way home a beautiful purple (? It looked natural, but how was it so bright) haired lady with cute glasses came up to him asking for directions.

This should have been pretty suspect since who the hell is awake and outside at one A.M. (well, except for himself… but that’s different) and, _seriously_ , this was like the start of one of those crappy horror movies where the protagonist is eventually lead to their imminent death.

However, he didn’t know who the dumb protagonist or the murderer was since he was wearing a black hoodie and black sweats and black everything basically (he didn’t normally do this, but since he particularly didn't want to be noticed by someone he knew on the streets at this time he threw on his most inconspicuous looking clothing) and the woman was starting to look more and more like a prettier version of the joker from batman (she was wearing something that looked suspiciously like some sort of white powder on her face)

Anyway, Hide was leading this girl around aimlessly, wanting to go home, as she tried to remember what street she needed to go to and Hide was just about to say “Fuck it.” and leave her to fend for herself (he did need more than 4 hours’ sleep a night) when suddenly she squealed and pointed at the place she needed to go.

 

Which turned out to be an alleyway.

 

A very dark, very damp and very piss filled alleyway.

 

 

So, obviously Hide did a double take (his brain screaming at him to ‘Get the hell out of there. Fast.’), but since he considered himself a gentleman (having been raised well by his mama all those years); he led her to the entrance.

Even though he swore he saw her grin manically when she laid her eyes on said creep alley way.

And Hide cast away the thoughts suspicious when she grabbed onto him, giant boobs pressed against his shoulder and all, whining that she was scared to go down the alley by herself. “ _I am a fragile woman after all_ ” she had said, faced buried in his shoulder, almost like she had rehearsed it a thousand times.

But, yet again, Hide was a true gentleman and walked with her down the alley. He had made conversation like a gentleman, “ _Rize._ ” Was her name and she liked “ _Takatsuki Sen_ ” apparently (Hell if Hide knows what she was talking about), and, like a real man, he let her dig her fingernails into his arms, hard… because she must have been frightened.

 

…Right?

 

Halfway through the long walk to the other side of the alleyway, when Hide was beginning to think everything was going to be OK and he was going to get his 4 hours’ of sleep, he felt a tug on his sleeve.

He stopped walking abruptly and turned around to face Rize, who looked down, and raised an eyebrow at the redness of her ears. “ _Hide-san, I just want to thank you for taking me down here._ ” She whispered, taking a small step towards him. On instinct he took a step back but, in two more bigger steps from her, she reached him and buried her face into his chest.

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Uh, It’s not a problem. I'm glad I could help.” They stood awkwardly silent for a few seconds, and when Rize made no move to leave he grew cold. “I-I don’t think we should be- “

****

**_SNIfF_ **

 

“ ** _Oh_** _Hi **de** - **sa** n._” Hide paled, a chill creeping up his spine. He’s fairly certain that this woman just sniffed him. _Fuck, she's the creepy type_ , Hide thought exasperated, wiping his face. He wished he never came outside.

“Rize-san, what’s wrong? Are you crying?”

“ _Oh y **ou** are so ni **C** e. You **ev** en s **Mel** L n **icE**_.”

“W- What? I don’t remember putting any Lynx on last-”

“ ** _Good enough to EAT_**.”

 

 

**_CRUnCH_ **

 

 

 

**_. x. _ **

 

 

 

And that’s how Hide ended up lying, propped up by the wall, with a bite-sized chuck taken right out of his left arm.

 

Hide regrets everything good he said about the woman- _Rize_.

She was actually the real life, female version of Hannibal Lector… but so much worse.

 

“ ** _AHAHAHAHA!_** _You Mundy’s are fools! **HA!”**_ She shrieked, glasses broken on the floor and hair wildly covering half her face, the powder on her face had been rubbed off in some places and revealed the ugly cracked red skin beneath, she shook violently and swayed excitedly on the balls of her feet. Hide frowned and reached a hand up against the wall to support him as he tried, and failed, to get up.

If Rize was using the term “Mundy” then that only means one thing;

She’s an abnormal. A Degen.

-People who are born freaks of nature emotionally, mentally or physically, sometimes a horrifying mixture of all three. Long story short, they have super powers and are considered extremely dangerous because they are stronger than the average human, and are hunted by the CCD (Commission of Counter Degenerate) for those same reasons.

“Mundy” was a way to insult normal humans. However, Hide wasn’t insulted in the slightest. He actually found it quite funny.

 

He should have been shitting himself by now, having been overpowered by a 5”6-inch-tall, cannibal monster. But, no! Hide laughed in the face of danger.

OK… more like cries inside and wishes he stayed in his mother’s womb but, details…details…

He did like to think he was full of surprises, though.

“You got one thing wrong, _freak_!” Hide shouted over her manic laughter that sounded more like she was having a seizure than enjoying herself.

Her head sharply jutted upwards, at a visibly awkward angle, to stare at him. Her eye’s crazed and saliva dripping from her lips down her chin. Hide thought wryly that she was taking the term ‘Good enough to eat’ to a _whole_ new level.

“ ** _Ha-Ha! Freak? ME? It’s you who’s mistaken. Say that again when I eat every. single. inch. Of you and shit your fucking remains out my ass.”_** Spit flew disgustingly from her mouth and-wow that description was enough to bring a bit of bile to his mouth.

Hide struggled to slide his way up into standing position, and leaned against the wall with one hand helping him and the other covering his bleeding wound.

“Good luck with that. You could say that I’m just _too hot_ to stomach.” Hide grinned, sly eyes watching her from under his hood.

“ ** _Hehe, don’t flatter yourself, boy. You’re brave. I’ll give you that. I’ll even end you quickly before I eat-“_**

 

“No. I’m too hot to eat, _literally._ ”

**_“-All of you…Huh?-”_ **

 

 

 

 

**_BOOM_ **

****

****

 

 

 

An explosion of fire blew her backwards, landing her all the way at the end of the alley. She screamed as flames licked and consumed her body. Hide waited for her to stop screaming, but when she continued to writhe for quite a while he grew impatient and turned to limp down the other way of the street.

Looking around, Hide noticed that the fire hadn't caused major damage to anything important, only some trash cans had caught alight. Hoping no one was awake to hear the commotion he self-consciously adjusted his hood, the smell of burning trash flooded his senses causing him to hurry away from the vile odour.

“Damn, that felt way too good to do.” He mumbled, while fanning away the smoke billowing from the hand he briefly took away from his wound. Blood which had soaked it was now burnt and crusty. As he reached his way onto the high street, Hide pulled his phone at with his free hand and quickly typed in a number he really needed to save into his phone (He's had to use it way too many times). Putting the phone to his ear he briefly turned around to see the distant figure of Rize lying limp, face down on the ground. 

_Finally._

 

_“…Hello, This is the CCD's non-emergency number. What is the problem?”_

“Yeah, I would like to report a sighting of a Degen.”

_“OK. Where did you sight this?”_

“Um-“Hide looked at the road name and relayed the information to the call centre. He resumed walking home as they continued to ask questions and paused only to squeeze his wound, which had now pretty much closed up. Healing abilities are really useful in cases like these.

“I think she was dead on the floor. So you don’t have to worry too much- Thank you. Have a good day.” Hide hung up and sighed in relief. Anonymously tipping off is much worse when you yourself are on the enemy side. It was like a mouse offering its dead comrade to a cat that had room for two. It was an absolutely terrible idea, but, luckily, he’s never been caught before.

If you ask him why he is on the side of the people hunting his kind, he would tell you that he’s not in denial about his Degen status, but that he believes that truly horrible Degens, like Rize, should be dealt with. He wasn’t going to harm her. It was only when she looked like she was actually going to eat him that he did, so technically it was self-defence.

Hide would also say that truly horrible humans should be dealt with in the same way, because he believed in equality, not all Degens are bad (he would modestly use himself as an example) and not all humans are bad, so they should be treated equally since the only way in which they were different was that they were born differently (but even then most Degens can pass as normal easily, and again he is an example).

Degens and humans can live together in harmony but, like with every issue ever, the world just didn’t work like that. So what to do…!

Hide reached his apartment with a new resolve in his mind.

 

 

He didn’t care that his clothes were a right mess.

 

 

He didn’t care that his trousers had a wet patch, from when he sat on the ground, which smelt like faeces.

 

 

He didn’t even care when he saw the time and realised he would be getting less than four hours sleep after all.

 

No.

 

 

He didn’t mind about any of those because he decided that, on the very next day, he was going to join the CCD.

 

 

 

 

**_. O. _ **

 

 

 

 

Yes, he was being serious.

 

 

 


	2. Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hide visits the aftermath of the previous incident and suspicious are raised.

 

_**Be careful making wishes in the dark** _   
_**Can't be sure when they've hit their mark** _

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Hide ended up not joining the CCD.

 

Why?

 

Because it’s a hell lot harder than he thought. Plus, he’s pretty sure when he made the decision to do it his head had been banged up so much that his ability to rationalise was made redundant.

Turns out, when he bothered to research it, CCD personnel and security equipment in each branch can tell a Degen from a human in one 0.003 second scan. So if he stepped even one foot in the office he would be taken out quicker than he could say “The dog did it.”

It was a massive disappointment. He thought he could become the next big shot in town, the hero of Tokyo, taking out criminals as his every day job, unifying the Degen and Human population so that everyone could live happily ever after.

That sounded cheesy, but whatever.

“Oh well…” Hide sighed while turning over in his bed, ready to cry. He had three hours sleep and ended up not eating any of the snacks he had bought because his appetite had been put off by _something_. He was in the weird state of being so tired that he was very awake, and you may ask why he doesn’t sleep in more... and that’s because Hide’s a weird case and automatically wakes up at seven A.M. sharp.

All those ass-whoopings from his mother made him extremely disciplined.

Since he was bored out of his mind and, miraculously, not feeling lazy enough to stay in his batman pyjamas all day, he decided to get up and be proactive.

He had a quick shower, almost causing the curtain to catch fire when he panicked when he slipped, before eating some random cereal, which must have been in his cupboard for centuries because it was stale as hell (and horrifyingly disgusting, but he doesn't like to waste). His phone chimed fifteen minutes later from its place next to him on the sofa, where he was watching a random K-drama which was pleasantly bad, and he quickly checked it to see his mother had kindly texted him.

**_MOMMY  (_ ** _8:34 A.M.) **:** Remember to buy your groceries           _

_LOL_

Hide cringed automatically. He wished he never gave his mom a lesson on text slang, he was very sure his mother didn’t mean ‘Lots of Love’. She always knew what she was doing, mad woman.

_NAGACHEEKY (8:36 A.M.) :_ **yeah mom. ILY2**

He shut off his phone and dumped his empty bowl in the sink with a huff. Hide would deal with his mess later (never). He was actually glad that his mom reminded him to buy food because now he had an excuse for going outside, other than to be nosy and wander around uselessly.

Travelling back to his ~~un~~ organised room he lifted various amounts of crap from the floor to uncover a shirt that was clean (which was ~~un~~ surprisingly difficult). He eventually put on a long-sleeved dark blue shirt that only had a bit of stuff (milk?) on the collar. He threw on a pair of jeans and grabbed his coat before leaving the freezing temperature of his apartment to the even colder temperature of the outside world. Not bothering with a hat and scarf because...really? He only had the coat to look normal.

He checked his pockets for his wallet and keys, having always often forgotten them before and having to, embarrassingly, visit his evil landlady. Evil, as in, she would always make Hide wait for an unnecessary amount of time and making him explain, like in a five hour essay, exactly why he didn't have it before he could have a spare. Ever since the last time where he almost had to write an actual essay for her, he always checks once, twice, thrice and checks it hasn't escaped his pocket before he closes the door.

The pavement was covered in a thin layer of ice and tiny snowflakes fell irritatingly on his head, causing him to shake it furiously in order to get rid it. Despite the attempt, specks still clung to his eyelashes and hair.

Raising his temperature gradually did the trick.

 But he’s not an idiot, Hide made sure to only warm his body up when no one was walking past him, just in case he messed up and his clothes accidentally caught fire or they caught sight of the litres of melting snow running down his coat.

As he drew closer to the main street where his beloved grocery store was, he heard the distant sound of sirens and someone shouting what sounded like commands. He diverted his way to the store in order to investigate the noise and his heart stuttered when he realised the sirens were coming from the same street he was on five hours ago.

 

And not just the same street, the same alleyway had road blocks and police cars surrounding it.

 

 _Oh shit,_ Hide panicked. Had they found Rize? Did they find evidence linking him to the scene? Were they coming after him now?

Hide smacked himself to stop himself worrying, a passer-by staring at him in confusion. He didn’t care, because as he made his way to where a small crowd of noisy people stood outside the alleyway, he saw a white burnt and almost unrecognisable shape of a shoe. 

He was very sure that Rize was wearing white heels when he met her.

However, there was no body to be seen. Hide looked around nervously for a sign of a body bag or stretcher, but none was in sight. That couldn't be right because he distinctly remembers using enough power to incapacitate her, which means she couldn't have moved herself. 

 

Someone else must of got to her first. Before the CCD. 

 

_What the-_

 

Hide was cut out of his thoughts by someone standing next to him nudging him slightly.

“It’s pretty sad isn’t it.” The stranger was a bespectacled man with brown hair and a glare that could cut diamond into a million pieces. Despite his words, the tone of voice the man had used suggested that he thought it was anything _but_ sad.

Hide stared at the man for a second before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I guess.” The conversation wore off at that and both men continued to watch as firefighters, police and CCD investigators cleaned up the aftermath. Smoke still billowing out of the alley. Hide winced and rubbed his neck. What he didn't remember was his blast to be _that_ strong.

Just as Hide was about to unsuspiciously leave the scene, a hand reached out a firmly planted on his shoulder. “By the looks of things it looked like she was burned.” The same man from before turned Hide around, his nails biting into skin, and looked at him, right in the eyes, looking directly almost mockingly.

Hide’s pulse increased and he saw the man’s eyes glimmer as he struggled to find something to say. “Yeah, that’s weird.”

“How would a fire start in such a place? That’s weird indeed. Maybe it’s some new Degen thing.” The man smirked and took his from Hide as fast as he put it there. “Anyway, I’m off.  Have a shitty day.” The stranger turned and walked off into the crowd of people, not even sparing a glance back.

Hide only took a breath when he was sure the man had disappeared. Had the man known about him being a Degen? What? Also, that was extremely rude how he just swore at him… _Adults these days, huh._ Hide shook his head and pulled away from the diminishing group of people still watching the alley being searched and cleaned up.

 

. O.

 

After taking the long way round to the grocery store and buying everything that he needed for the week (5% things he actually needed, 95% crisps, chocolate and useless crap), Hide visited the local coffee shop he always went to, much to _a certain someone’s_ chagrin.

“Yo, Touka-chan!”

The girl with short purple hair turned his way, immediately scowled at Hide’s arrival in her workplace. “Ugh, go away already.” She removed herself from her place behind the counter to walk up to him threateningly.

Hide grinned at her approach, laughing at how much she _pretends_ to hate him in public. “Wow. That must be a new record for how many seconds you can tolerate my existence.” Touka wrinkled her nose at that and poked the boy in the side quickly.

“Dork.” She moved to back to the counter, pouring out a cup of coffee slowly.

Hide snorted, shoving his coat off and placing himself on a stool in front of where Touka was working. “Jeesh, insult of the millennium.” He saw the corners of her lips twitch and was only glad that Touka wasn’t actually mad at him for showing his face.

“If you don’t like it, don’t come here.” She slid a full cup of coffee towards him and leaned on her elbows with a sigh. Touka was actually really glad Hide, one of her friends, was here. It was hard, working as a manager/waitress at her own café, and Hide made her day slightly better (But she would never boost his ego by telling him that.)

“It’s nice to know you still love me.” Hide smiled as he sipped his burning drink. Well, It should have been burning to a normal person (but with Hide, it did quite the contrary as it fuelled his energy). Touka opened her mouth to retort, shutting it and running off when the entrance door chimed indicating the arrival of another customer.

After a few minutes (which felt like hours, Hide's a really active person who needs constant stimulation) of sipping his drink in silence, Hide turned to see why it was taking so long for Touka to return. Interestingly, she was chuckling with a customer sat by the window, who was currently chatting animatedly.

Hide narrowed his eyes and scanned the man up and down. White hair, black at the roots, smart dress, a book placed neatly in front of him, a typical nerd. Wow. His eyes were drawn to the book for some reason.

_Monochrome Rainbow, Takatsuki…_

Hide felt slightly sick and turned back around. He rubbed at his arm unconsciously and jumped when a pair of hands slammed in front of him, and no. He did not let out an extremely unmanly squeak.

He looked up offended to see Touka with an extremely out of character look of concern on her face. “What’s wrong with your arm?” Hide’s eyes widened in surprise and, when he saw that he was touching the spot where Rize had bitten him, he glared at his hand accusingly for giving himself away.

“Hmm, nothing.”

“Hide-“

“Was that your boyfriend?”

“WHAT!?” All the customers in the shop turned to look at the two at the counter in annoyance. Touka, positively red, coughed and smoothed her apron. “Hide, what the hell are you talking about?” She purposefully lowered her voice to a harsh whisper, lips pressed thin together.

“Don’t lie to me; you’ve always liked the nerd type.” Hide said nonchalantly, stirring his- now cold- coffee to keep him looking innocent. Touka shoot him a confused look, staring at him for an explanation.

Realise settled on her face as she saw Hide jerking his head unsubtly towards the window seats. “…Oh my...” Hide’s forehead was attacked by a finger poking it roughly, nail indenting his skin.

Hide pouted, rubbing at the skin. “Ouch! I’m just joking.” Touka only gave him a pointed look. When Hide stared back doe-eyed she scoffed.

“I’m not. He’s just a customer Hide. Stop acting like I’m a dog’s bone Hide, I can protect myself and- wait you tried to dodge my question, didn’t you?” Hide looked away guiltily. “Seriously-“

Hide stood up quickly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a crumpled bill “Oh look at the time, way past my bedtime.” He slipped the money under his cup and grabbed his coat hurriedly.

“Hide. It’s one in the afternoon.”

“So? Stop hating on people who go to bed before ten. Not everyone can be a vampire and stay up all through the night like you, Touka-chan.” He walked back to the entrance, followed by Touka who quickly scrambled to catch him.

“What- Are you actually going?” She sounded so exasperated that Hide had to stop walking. “Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” She glanced at his arm and Hide turned slightly to sheild it.

Hide sighed, looking past Touka to see a head of black and white duck back down into a book. “It’s a story for another day.”

Touka pointed at him frustrated. “This isn’t over, you know!”

“Thanks for the coffee, Bye!” Hide waved, ignoring her while beaming, catching a glimpse of her angry look as the door chimed close behind him.

 

...

The strange empty silence of the sub-zero outside, juxtaposing the warm inside and soft muttering of customers, allowed him to drop his smile. He bit a fingernail, thinking, before walking  away from the shop.

 

If he told Touka the truth… she would just be worried, and she was already stressed out enough. He frowned and pulled his hood up. He had to avoid her question for her own sake. Also, because he didn't know how to explain what happened in the first place.

To be honest, Hide didn’t know whether he should just forget about the situation with Rize. Like, she’s dead anyway right? Nothing bad can happen to him now, just as long as he doesn’t get caught by the CCD.

 

But then why did he still have this nagging feeling in the back of his mind.

 

 

Hide walked home, dragging his feet against the snow.

 

 

** _. O._ **

 

 

And for once he didn’t feel like warming up his cold body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY! Progress!
> 
> More characters are introduced and I kind of know what I'm going to do now.
> 
> I'm deliberately withholding key info about Touka for now. (It's because I don't actually don't know what to do with her but shhhhh!)
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos+comments! And just for reading :D


	3. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hide finds/helps someone and gets hurt in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wipes brow* Wow. I had to re-write this so many times.

After five days of avoiding his problems, Hide finally decided to get off his lazy arse and sort out his problems. After all, he could never ignore Touka for more than a week before she unexpectedly shows up in the middle of his room (He’s always been afraid of her because he has no idea how she gets into the flat without a key, _freaky woman_ ).

 

It’s just a shame that when he decided this, it was, yet again, midnight, the most inconvenient time to do anything at all. But at the same time, in Hide’s mind, the best time to do all the crap he didn’t do due to procrastination in the day.

 

 _Damn it, Hide!_ He smacked his head for good measure, Touka wouldn’t appreciate it if Hide wakes her up (again. He’d done it before and, _boy_ , it wasn’t pretty).

So since he was up anyway, he might as well be proactive. He walked around his bedroom absent-mindedly and ended up tripping on something on the floor. He bent down to pick up an old magazine, cringing when he saw the indecent image of a woman on the front-he _swears_ he never bought it, which lay on top of a pile of other crap.

He stared at the magazine, dated seven years ago, and in his embarrassment, he crumpled and burnt it to ashes, then burning the remains into nothing. Hide wiped his hands on his shirt, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His eye’s wandered around his room, lazily taking in all the other mess before having an idea.

Hide grinned wildly and got to work.

 

. O.

 

Half an hour later all the crap was gone without a trace. Wiping the grey smears off his hand, Hide wondered how he had never thought of that before. He was about to celebrate his new found tidiness when he heard a faint jingling coming from somewhere.

He patted himself down hurriedly until he found his phone in his trouser pocket. His finger automatically pressed the answer button and brought the phone to his ear, afraid of missing the call, but he instantly regretted it when he heard a familiar voice coming through the other end.

_“..Hide?”_

His heart hammered in his chest. “Touka-chan?” _Oh shit_. Had she called to confront him?

_“Yeah-well, I kind of need some help.”_

Hide’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard Touka’s harsh breathing on the other end. He was more than worried about her call since, one, she was adamant about sleeping before midnight and it’s almost one in the morning and, two, _when the hell did Touka ever ask for help?_

“Are you OK? What’s going on?”

_“…I can’t really explain- just you’ll hear it when you get closer to the shop.”_

“But-“

 _“I said to just come, god dammit!”_ She hung up, cutting off his attempt at another question. Hide let a sigh escape from his mouth and ran to the front door, only pausing to grab his coat, and hurried out of his flat down the flight of stairs.

The streets were dark, and he snapped his fingers in front of him to create a spark big enough to light his way so he wouldn’t trip. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew something was wrong.

Forget violet-haired madwomen with flesh fetishes…

 

That’s all that matters.

 

. X.

 

Hide approached the café, heaving through chattering teeth. He spent so much of his energy on running here that he had none left to heat his body more.

_Wow, is this how humans feel? ‘Cause its freaking cold._

He rubbed his gloveless hands together and eyed the dark inside of the shop through the window. When he struggled to see anything going on inside, Hide turned to survey the street. Touka had told him he would be able to hear something, but the street was deathly silent-

 

_Thump_

 

Hide whipped his head to the right. He swore he just heard a noise coming from further down the street. He cautiously walked towards the sound of the noise, careful to make his steps in the snow as light as possible.

 

**_“-Ack.”_ **

 

 

Hide tensed. Now that he was closer to the source of whatever noise that was, he could definitely hear what sounded like someone gagging. A shadow flickered out of a dimly lit side street, Hide braced himself and put a hand on the corner of the entrance wall.

No way was he going to enter another one of these small, creepy streets not on guard.

 

_Not after last time._

 

He peeked his head round the corner slowly, scanning the area for a threat.

When all he saw was a body lying still, face forward, on the ground and he panicked. Hide forget his stealth strategy. Instead, he ran up to the person on the floor while shouting too loudly, shattering whatever silence existed before.

“Hey!” Hide reached the guy in record speed. “Hey. Are you alive?” Hide mentally cursed himself. What kind of question was that? If the person was dead, how would they answer him?

He fell onto his knees by the person, lightly shaking them. When there was no response Hide gently pushed them from the uncomfortable looking position on their front to their back.

…

 

_“You?”_

 

Hide studied the soft face framed by black and white hair, stained slightly red. Eye’s closed, red marks littered across the skin with strange dots on his neck.

What. The. Hell.

Whoever this guy was, he looked like he had been ravished by a wild animal on steroids. His clothes had been torn to absolute shreds.

Hide reached for his phone in his coat pocket and speed dialled. After one ring it was answered.

_“Hello? Hide? Did you see anything.”_

Hide paused, considering the question.

“I see something.”

 _“What is it? Why do you sound like that?”_  He could hear the panic in Touka’s voice. Hide’s head burned at the amount of questions being fired at him.

“Touka-chan,” Hide dragged out her name, trying to find out a way to say what- _who_ he found. “Your customer from :RE, the nerdy one-“

_“What? No. Don’t tell me he-“_

“I don’t think he’s dead.” Hide’s eyes darted to the guy’s chest; the small movements from under his shirt comforting Hide, a bit. “But he has weird marks on his-“

“-no…”

Hide almost dropped his phone in surprise. The man’s eyes, dull grey-blue, where now open, however it seemed like he was struggling to keep them from falling closed again. Hide breathed a sigh of relief.

“Huh?” Hide watched as the man gulped harshly and wheezed. A hand lifted slightly and landed on Hide’s arm.

“He… still here-“

_“Hide? Hide! What’s going on?”_

“What?” Hide, still trying to comprehend what the man was saying, ignoring Touka completely. “Who’s here-“

 

**“He means me.”**

 

WHACK

 

A foot came into contact with Hide’s side, propelling him all the way onto the main road. Hide landed on his side, onto the icy tarmac. His vision swam with black and he could vaguely feel the pain in his arm from the impact.

Blinking until his vision was clearer he managed to see a pair of loafers approaching his face. From his place on the floor he could also see his phone, which somehow had survived the fall.

Hide almost cried, at least he didn’t lose his phone _and_ his progress on Temple Run 2.

However, he could still faintly hear someone on the other end of the line.

_“…Hide! What-“_

A foot came and stomped his phone into pieces, grinding it into the ground until the screen cracked and switched off, abruptly ending the call.

Hide groaned quietly, eyes burning from the tears that shimmering on them.

 

_There goes a perfectly good phone. RIP._

 

 **“Tch. What a nuisance.”** The foot kicked the phone away, out of Hide’s peripheral vision. “Anyway, what should I do with you.” The mystery man walked until he was right in front of Hide’s laying form. Hide craned his neck to see what the man looked like.

Glasses glinted in the moon light and a sly smirk was apparent on the man’s lips.

 **“Remember me?”** The man crouched down on his knees, giving Hide a better view.

“Oh.” Hide goes back five days to when a brown-haired stranger grabbed him on the street.

 **“Oh?”** The man laughed, pointed teeth gleaming. Hide’s eyes widens as he remembers the red spots on the injured man’s neck. **“I could just kill you right now, but where’s the fun in that?”**

_Great… another psycho._

Suddenly the man stood up. **“C’mon then, fight me.”** He drawled in a bored tone. Hide frowned and tried to get up with the arm that wasn’t dead, but he immediately fell back to the floor. A snicker followed right after. **“You’re Pathetic.”**

Hide was pulled up roughly by his hair. A punch landed on his cheek, blowing him backwards into a shop wall. His back connected with the bricks, breaking through them onto the shop floor. Dust clouded over his sight and Hide coughed out the bits that had fallen into his mouth. Hide mentally apologised to whoever owned the shop and would see it the following morning.

 **“I know you’re different. I _smell_ it. Your blood burns.”** Hide could barely hear footsteps crunching through the debris towards him because of the insistent ringing in his ears. **“I can’t wait to taste it.”**

Hide rolled his eyes. Seriously, how many people want to eat him? Maybe he should start a restaurant with him as the starter, main course and desert, he’s sure he could make a lot of money out of that. He could even have a stall selling ‘ _free samples of Hide, on the house!’_

 

…Maybe not.

 

Hide shifted on to his knees, using his arm as a support, dust falling from his clothes.

“Well then, garlic face, I’m pretty sure if you tried to drink me I would burn your taste buds off.”

When he finally managed to balance himself on both his feet, Hide used as much energy as he had left to shoot a burst of fire from his hand. “So it would be better to be on the safe side. Right?” However, the man simply jumped to the side to avoid it. 

**“Hmm, I’ve always been a risk taker, especially when it comes to brats like you.”**

Hide huffed and jumped back out of the shop. Charging his hand back up, he held his arm in front of him.

“It would be wise for you to leave me alone. I’m pretty sure you know it was me who killed that woman.”

 **“Yeah, yeah. I couldn’t give two shits about Rize. I would have killed her too as she was a threat to me, but you got to her first.”** The man bared his fangs threateningly at Hide. **“That’s why I should kill you too.”**

Hide’s nose crinkled at the logic. The man just wanted an excuse to kill someone; he probably wasn’t getting enough from his girlfriend or something. Hormones do make men do weird things. Did Degens even have partners anyway?

Hide shrugged and cracked his neck. This man knows who Rize is, so he’s probably dangerous.

“Oh well. It’s you who loses out.”

Hide ran forward and simultaneously shot out fire where the man currently stood. However, it met thin air and only made a pile of snow explode on the other side of the road and melt into water.

Hide stopped, confused. He looked around.

“What-“

 **“Ha!”** Hide had half a millisecond to process how the man suddenly reappeared right in front of him before a hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.

Hide made desperate choking sounds as the hand circling his neck squeezed impossibly tighter. He allowed his flames to sprout from his neck, hoping it would put off his attacker. However, it only made the made grin wider.

 **“You can burn my skin as much as you like. It will just regenerate.”** Then man then leaned forward, sniffed Hide’s neck noisily. Something that looked like saliva dripped from the man’s fangs and-

“AAH!” A drop of whatever was coming off the man’s teeth landed on Hide’s coat, burning a way right through it and on his skin, causing it to burn and irritate.

**“I’ll make sure you die painfully. Once my fangs pierce your skin its venom will enter your blood stream.”**

Hide almost rolled his eyes again. This guy sure liked to waste time. He's just like those classic villains who love to boast about capturing the protagonist.

 

**“Don’t worry. I’ll stop talking.”**

 

Hide’s heart stopped. Did this guy just-

A sharp prick in his neck made Hide scream out in pain.

 

_Oh crap._

This was the end. Hide never thought he would die such a useless death; being sucked dry by a deadbeat parasite.

 

The flames licking Hide’s neck died and he began to spasm uncontrollably. His sight faded to nothing.

**“Agh.”**

The fangs left Hide’s neck sharply. Hide struggled to regain his dying vision.

“Forgot… about me?” A voice spoke between laboured breaths.

**“What?”**

The distinctive sound of a blade whooshing through the air was the only thing Hide heard before he was dropped onto the ground. Luckily he was able to land on his legs without collapsing.

THUD

A wind breezed past Hide’s face. He rubbed at his eyes furiously to try to clear away the bright spots clouding his vision.

“Are you OK?” A hoarse voice asked. A hand fell onto Hide’s shoulder heavily. He recognised it as the voice of the injured man from before.

“Are _you_ OK?” Hide blinked rapidly, catching sight of flashes of white and black.

“Um,” Hide heard him take a sharp breath inwards. “…no.”

Just as Hide was able to see most of what was in front of him, the man stumbled forward and put his other hand too on Hide’s shoulder for support. Unfortunately, Hide being completely unstable couldn’t handle the weight so, they both fell to the ground.

"Ah!" Hide made sure to shield the other man from the fall.

The weird multi-coloured haired man lay on top of him, while Hide held the man at the waist awkwardly, head spinning wildly.

“…Sorry.” Hide barely heard the man whisper into his shirt.

“No worries, Thanks for saving me.”

“Thanks… for saving… me too.”

Hide looked down briefly, watching as the man’s eyes fluttered shut.

“Hey. What’s your name?”

“…mm Sasaki.”

“Nice. I’m Hideyoshi, but I prefer-“A soft snore interrupted him. Hide chuckled quietly.

 

He had no idea how Sasaki had brought down that Degen in his current state, but Hide at least neither of them were dead.

Hide looked to the side curiously.

Where had that vampire thing gone? He was pretty sure it fell to the ground after Sasaki… did whatever he did to it. So what happened after that?

 

Hide yawned.

 

Questions can come later, after he gets some sleep…

On the cold, snow covered and extremely uncomfortable pavement with someone laying on his already dead arm, which someone will probably (definitely) stumble across at some point.

 

(He’ll also deal with the embarrassment of the situation when he wakes up.)

 

 

 

 

. O.

 

 

Having been cut off the call from Hide, Touka hurriedly put a coat over her bright purple hello kitty pyjamas, (Her friend bought it for her OK! She wore it out of pity) not caring one bit about the way she was dressed.

She knew she heard shit going down on the other side of the line, and she had to get out there.

 

_And Haise…_

 

She shook her head. No time to think of the worst that could have happened to the friendly customer.

Running downstairs to the café floor, she headed straight for the exit.

However when she pulled, she almost fell from the momentum of her body.

It didn’t budge one bit. Touka glared in frustration and caught sight of the frost on the other side of the door frame.

_Shit._

This is the worst time for the door to be frozen. Touka paced the shop, trying to think of a way out. She could try bashing it until it is forced open. Or use a heater to melt the ice on the other side. Maybe she could leave it until morning, Hide will be able to deal with what’s going on outside…

 

_Bang_

 

Touka grimaced at the noise coming from outside.

“…Ok maybe not.” Touka pulled the door harder, giving up when it didn’t do much more. She then took a step back, putting one leg forward. Bracing herself, she charged at the door, slamming into it with as much force she could handle.

Touka threw herself into the door, bouncing back on to the floor straight after. “Ow.”

The door should have at least budged at bit by now.

Wrong.

It had shuddered and instead it almost looked like it had become even more stuck.

 

_“Fuck this.”_

 

 

. x.

 

 

Half an hour later, Touka was in a heap outside :RE.

She pulled herself into a standing position. “Woo! Finally.” Raising her arm up to punch it in the air, she winced when she felt the pain building up in her shoulder. She made sure to leave the door cracked (Not wanting to be locked outside) and walked slowly down the street, cradling her shoulder.

It looked like she had missed all the action after all.

A building on the other side of the street had been blown to bits and an anomalous puddle of steaming water sat in the middle of a pile of melting snow.

_What the fuck had happened?_

As she got nearer to the end of the street she paused.

In the middle of the pavement she recognised two bodies laying together.

 

…

 

A laugh bubbled in her chest and she tried to keep it from erupting from her mouth.

Key word: _tried._

“Holy…” She laughed into her scarf, refraining from waking up the boys laying comfortably in each other’s warmth. “How?” She snickered and walked up to the resting guys, planning on how to get them back inside to :RE.

 

 

“And he said that Haise-san was _my_ boyfriend.”


End file.
